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The 1938 college football season ended with the Horned Frogs of
Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...
(TCU) being named the nation's No. 1 team by 55 of the 77 voters in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
Associated Press writers' poll in early December.
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
was also chosen by five contemporary math system selectors as a national champion; both teams won every game.


Conference and program changes


Conference changes

*Two conferences began play during 1938: ** ''
Alabama Intercollegiate Conference The Southern States Conference (SSC) was an affiliate of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics that included member institutions in the U.S. states of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida. The league existed from 1938 to 1 ...
'' – active through the 1959 season ** ''
Mountain States Conference A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...
'' – an NCAA University Division conference active through the 1961 season; also known as the ''Big Seven'' and ''Skyline Conference'' *One conference changed its name in 1938: ** The ''Tri-Normal League'' changed its name to the ''
Washington Intercollegiate Conference The Evergreen Conference (EvCo), known as the Tri-Normal League from 1920 to 1938 and the Washington Intercollegiate Conference (WINCO) from 1938 to 1947, was an intercollegiate athletic conference composed of member schools located in the states o ...
''


Membership changes


September

September 24 Defending champion Pittsburgh beat West Virginia, 19–0. California defeated St. Mary's 12–7. In Los Angeles, Alabama beat USC 19–7. Minnesota defeated Washington 15–0, and Dartmouth beat Bates 46–0.


October

October 1 Alabama defeated Samford 34–0, Fordham beat Upsala 47–0, Dartmouth beat St Lawrence 51–0, and Notre Dame beat Kansas 52–0. Pitt defeated Temple 28–6, California beat Washington State 27–3, and Minnesota beat Nebraska 16–7. October 8 Minnesota defeated Purdue 7–0. Alabama beat North Carolina State 14–0. Dartmouth stayed unscored upon, winning at Princeton 22–0. Pittsburgh beat cross-town rival Duquesne 27–0. Fordham beat Waynesburg College 53–0. California played a double-header for the fans, with the reserves beating the California Agricultural school (lager UC-Davis) 48–0, and the varsity and reserves beating College of the Pacific 39–0. In Atlanta, Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech 14–6. October 15 Pittsburgh won at Wisconsin 26–6. California defeated UCLA 20–7. Dartmouth beat Brown 34–13, and Notre Dame beat Illinois 14–6. Minnesota edged Michigan, 7–6. Fordham was tied by Purdue 6–6, and in Birmingham, Alabama was shut out by Tennessee, 13–0. When the first round of balloting was finished, the defending champion Panthers were again No. 1, followed by Minnesota, California, Dartmouth, and Notre Dame. October 22 No. 1 Pittsburgh beat SMU 34–7. No. 2 Minnesota was idle. No. 3 California won at Seattle over Washington 14–7. No. 4 Dartmouth won at Harvard 13–7. No. 5 Notre Dame beat No. 13 Carnegie Tech 7–0. No. 6 Santa Clara beat Arkansas 21–6 in San Francisco, while in Milwaukee, No. 7 TCU beat Marquette 21–0, and the two winners replaced Dartmouth and Notre Dame in the Top Five: No. 1 Pittsburgh, No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 California, No. 4 TCU, and No. 5 Santa Clara. October 29 No. 1 Pittsburgh beat No. 9 Fordham, 24–13. No. 2 Minnesota fell to No. 12 Northwestern, 6–3. No. 3 California beat Oregon State 13–7. No. 4 TCU beat Baylor 39–7, and No. 5 Santa Clara won at Michigan State 7–6. No. 6 Dartmouth won at Yale 24–6 and No. 7 Notre Dame beat Army in Yankee Stadium, 19–7, and both returned to the Top Five: No. 1 Pittsburgh, No. 2 TCU, No. 3 California, No. 4 Notre Dame, and No. 5 Dartmouth.


November

November 5 In Pittsburgh, the No. 1 Panthers lost to No. 19 Carnegie Tech, 20–10. No. 2 TCU won at Tulsa 21–0. No. 3 California lost at No. 13 USC 13–7. In Baltimore, No. 4 Notre Dame beat Navy 15–0. No. 5 Dartmouth beat Dickinson College, 44–6. No. 6 Tennessee beat Chattanooga 45–0 to extend its record to 7–0–0. The Horned Frogs of TCU leaped into the top spot, ahead of Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, and Dartmouth. November 12 No. 1 TCU beat Texas 28–6. No. 2 Notre Dame beat No. 12 Minnesota 19–0. No. 3 Pittsburgh beat Nebraska 19–0. No. 4 Tennessee won at Vanderbilt 14–0. No. 5 Dartmouth lost at No. 20 Cornell 14–7. No. 7 Duke remained unbeaten (7–0–0), untied, and unscored upon with a 21–0 win at Syracuse. In the next poll, the Irish moved up to the top rung, followed by TCU, Tennessee, Duke, and Pittsburgh. November 19 No. 1 Notre Dame won at No. 16 Northwestern 9–7. No. 2 TCU won at Rice 29–7. No. 3 Tennessee was idle as it prepared for a holiday game. No. 4 Duke beat N.C. State, 7–0. No. 5 Pittsburgh beat Penn State 26–0. The rankings shuffled to No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 TCU, No. 3 Duke, No. 4 Pittsburgh, and No. 5 Tennessee. On
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No. 5 Tennessee beat Kentucky 46–0, while No. 6 Oklahoma beat Oklahoma A&M 19-0. Two days later, November 26, No. 1 Notre Dame remained idle. No. 2 TCU beat SMU in Dallas, 20–7. No. 3 Duke and No. 4 Pittsburgh met at Durham, with the hosts winning 7–0. With a record of 9–0–0, Duke had outscored its opponents 114–0, but stayed in third in the next set of rankings: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 TCU, No. 3 Duke, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 5 Oklahoma. On December 3, No. 1 Notre Dame lost in Los Angeles to No. 8 USC, 13–0, and fell from grace to fifth place. Previously No. 2-ranked TCU received 55 first place votes in the final poll and, as national champion, accepted a bid to the Sugar Bowl. No. 4 Tennessee beat Ole Miss 47–0 in Memphis, and moved up to second place. Though the SEC champion would be Sugar Bowl bound in later years, a No. 1 vs. No. 2 match was not to be had, as Tennessee instead took a bid for the Orange Bowl. No. 3 Duke stayed in third place, despite having never been scored upon in 1938, and accepted an invitation to the Rose Bowl. No. 5 Oklahoma beat Washington State 28–0 and moved up to fourth place. Both unbeaten and untied at 10–0–0, Tennessee and Oklahoma would meet in Miami, but the title had been awarded to 10–0–0 TCU.


Conference standings


Major conference standings


Independents


Minor conferences


Minor conference standings


Rankings


Bowl games


See also

* 1938 College Football All-America Team


References

{{1938–39 NCAA championships navbox